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The Fusion of Time and Design

In September this year the British-based Aston Martin Racing partner team, Blackthorn, announced an exciting new partnership with the legendary Ecurie Ecosse team in a 2026 race programme in the ACO championships, starting with one of its Aston Martin GT3 in the 2025/2026 Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS).

Écurie Écosse (French for "Scotland Stable") was founded in November 1951 by Edinburgh-based businessman and racing driver David Murray along with mechanic Wilkie Wilkinson. Its most notable achievement was winning the 1956 and the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team also raced in three Formula One races. Ecurie Ecosse's cars were always distinctive with their metallic blue colour emblazoned with the St. Andrews white cross.

While Ecurie Ecosse made occasional appearances in the Formula One World Championship, it was in sportscar racing where the iconic Edinburgh-based race team earned international acclaim. The team was revived by Hugh McCaig in 1983, ushering in a new era of competitive racing for Ecurie Ecosse. Among its modern achievements, the team won the 1986 Group C2 World Championship, a landmark success in endurance racing. It later added the 1995 British Touring Car Championship, the British GT Championship in 2014, and the British LMP3 Championship in 2017, further cementing its reputation in contemporary motorsport.

The famous triumph at Le Mans was in the stunningly beautiful and formidable Jaguar D-Type, chassis number XKD 501, and driven by the two Scottish drivers Ron Flockhart & Ninian Sanderson. In 1955, Jaguar began selling customer cars with 3.4-litre carburetted engines to meet the minimum production necessary to meet FIA homologation requirements at the time. Fifty-four such cars were eventually built, with XKD 501 being the first produced and dispatched to Ecurie Ecosse on 4 May 1955.

In late July 1956, the 24 Hours of Le Mans was held, delayed from its usual June date due to the modifications to the Sarthe circuit intended to make the track safer for both drivers and spectators. By the end of a particularly challenging race just 14 cars remained in the field with XKD 501 claiming its definitive victory.

The new partnership with Blackthorn retains many of these original Scottish links. Blackthorn’s Le Mans winning pro driver, Jonny Adam, was born in Lochgelly, Fife. In addition, the Vantage GT3 will carry the logo of the charity Race Against Dementia. Founded by Sir Jackie Stewart OBE, after his wife Helen’s frontotemporal dementia diagnosis, Race Against Dementia funds early-career researchers to accelerate progress towards a cure for dementia.

The charity’s vision is to win the race against dementia by accelerating global research towards a breakthrough cure with the utmost urgency by applying an F1 approach to success, working with the brightest minds from medicine, motorsport and engineering to make that happen.

Sir Jackie recently stated “I now face one of the biggest challenges of my life. I will put all my efforts into finding a cure for this horrendous illness.” To date Race Against Dementia has raised £15m backing 37 new research projects.

The Écurie Écosse relationship with the Stewart family is long established. When XKD 501 was delivered, it was initially entrusted to Sir Jackie’s racing driver brother Jimmy Stewart for initial testing. Jimmy Stewart participated in a single Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, driving for Ecurie Ecosse. He was Sir Jackie’s elder brother and later worked in the garage industry. Notably, Écurie Écosse offered Sir Jackie Stewart his first drivers contract in 1963, marking the beginning of one of the most illustrious careers in motorsport history.

It seems fitting that in 2026 this new partnership, with AMR partner team Blackthorn, will mark Ecurie Ecosse’s 70th anniversary of the Le Mans win and with a return to the top echelons of endurance racing as well as the 40-year anniversary of their 1986 Group C2 World Championship title. The driver line up of Jonny Adam, Giacomo Petrobelli and Kobe Pauwels has already been confirmed.

Alasdair McCaig, Ecurie Ecosse team Director, commented: “It’s a tremendous privilege to lead a team with such a storied heritage. We’re proud of our recent accomplishments and excited to embark on this new chapter, honouring the legacy while embracing fresh opportunities in modern motorsport. Ecurie Ecosse remains deeply committed to excellence, and we’re thrilled to join forces with Blackthorn to bring our vision to life on the 70th anniversary of the Le Mans victory."

Claude Bovet, Blackthorn founder and owner, commented: “We are very excited to partner with Ecurie Ecosse – an iconic brand with a rich racing history. With two 24 Hours of Le Mans victories to its name, it is an honour to continue this legacy with the aim of returning the legendary Scottish name to where it belongs – at Circuit de la Sarthe. First, however, we have Asian Le Mans Series in our sights where we’re aiming for the championship title with one of our Aston Martin GT3 EVOs.”

Indeed, the ALMS entry is just the start, with the partnership eager to continue the Le Mans journey begun by Ecurie Ecosse in the 1950s.

The striking new Vantage GT3 livery fuses together the iconic Ecurie Ecosse colours with the distinctive and contemporary lines associated with Blackthorn’s (Frank Stephenson designed) livery and will, once again, be seen by racing fans at many of the famous circuits around the globe. This original Blackthorn design brief delivered a livery that sought to fuse the elegance of Aston Martin with the coolness of James Bond and one that I am sure Sir Jackie’s close friend and fellow Scot, Sir Sean Connery, would have approved of.

Thanks to Claude Bovet and Alasdair McCaig for help with content and images and also to EE motoring historian Graham Gauld who supplied rarely seen photos for inclusion.